If anything, McCain screwed up royally by not hammering Obama for it. Also, why is it “misplaced” to focus on a man Obama called his “spiritual adviser” for 23 years? Wright’s views obviously helped shape Obama’s opinions of the world, he did after all sit through over two decades’ worth of weekly sermons.

Q & A: Mike Huckabee on Faith, Social Issues, and a Possible Run — Christianity Today

Q) According to a Pew survey last August, 29 percent of evangelical Christians believe Obama is a Muslim, while only 27 percent think he is a Christian. Who or what is at fault for this misperception, and do evangelical attitudes/beliefs need to change?

He’s been very expressive in his statements, even at the Saddleback Forum when he ran in 2008. He spelled out very clearly what his view was, and frankly, it’s inappropriate, wrong-headed, and not helpful to the overall discussion when people try to say he doesn’t have a birth certificate or he’s a Muslim. To me that demeans the entire real discussion—what is he proposing and whether it’s good for the country — that ought to be the centerpiece for our entire conversation, not what did he hear when he sat in church. If people went back and heard every sermon I heard when I was a little kid and some of the more fundamentalist pastors were yelling from the pulpit at me, if they took every one of those sermons and lifted out of them certain phrases and things, it could be scandalous, but only out of the context of the bigger picture. That’s why I thought that a lot of the focus on Jeremiah Wright was misplaced.

It boils down to this, Huckabee is a tool, if we nominate him we’re guaranteed another four years of hope ’n change.

If I told you this was from The Onion would anyone have doubted it for a second?

HT: Allah

That and Rosie O’Donnell sent her flowers. No, I’m not making either or those up.

(Daily Caller) — If there was any question where former President Jimmy Carter’s sympathies lie, this might shed a little more light on that.

According to a column in the Feb. 24 edition of the Falls Church News-Press by Nicholas F. Benton, the editor-in-chief of the publication, the paper’s newest columnist Helen Thomas had a surprise waiting for her after an extraordinary interview she gave to HLN’s Joy Behar last week. That was flowers from Rosie O’Donnell, who had been on the record for defending Thomas in the past.

However, as Benton noted, at the time of the Thomas’s infamous remarks, there were very few willing to defend her other than O’Donnell and the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

“[Rosie] O’Donnell sent Thomas, now age 90, flowers in sympathy for the highly upsetting incident and, along with President Jimmy Carter, was one of only a handful of her longtime colleagues and friends to reach out to her,” Benton wrote.

Alana Goodman, the assistant online editor for Commentary magazine, followed up with Benton on that claim. She noted in a post that Benton told her that Thomas told him that Carter reached out to her after the comments.

“Benton told me over the phone that Thomas told him about Carter’s outreach herself, though she didn’t give him details about what the former president said to her,” Goodman wrote. “‘The context was in the context of what transpired,’ said Benton, referring to Thomas’s unceremonious retirement from Hearst.”

Rest here »

He needs to be thrown out of a plane so he can die the way his victims did on Pan Am Flight 103.

(Reuters) — Muammar Gaddafi will commit suicide the way Adolf Hitler did at the end of World War II rather than surrender or flee, a former Libyan cabinet minister told a Swedish newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.

“Gaddafi’s days are numbered. He will do what Hitler did — he will take his own life,” former Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil told Expressen in an interview in Al Bayda.

Al Jeleil resigned this week in protest at violence used by the government against demonstrators opposed to Gaddafi. The leader is battling to preserve his 41-year rule.

And we all know the jobs “saved” is a bunch of BS, so the cost of each job that was actually created is well over $228K.

(CNSNews.com) — The jobs created and saved by the economic stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed on Feb. 17, 2009 cost at a minimum an average of $228,055 each, according to data released yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

In a report released Wednesday — “Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October Through December 2010” — the CBO said it now estimates the stimulus law cost a total of $821 billion, up from CBO’s original estimate that the stimulus would cost $787 billion.

In the same report, the CBO estimated that in the fourth quarter of 2010 there were somewhere between 1.3 million and 3.5 million people who were then employed who would not have been had the stimulus not been enacted. “CBO estimates,” says the report, “that ARRA’s policies had the following effects in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010: . . . Increased the number of people employed by between 1.3 million and 3.5 million.”

Hoo-rah!

(LWJ) — Unmanned US Predators struck yet again in Pakistan’s lawless tribal agencies today, again in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Six “militants” were reported killed in the third strike in five days. The recent strikes mark an end to a pause in the Predator program that sparked much speculation as to the causes.

The latest strike took place in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Unmanned US Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired several missiles at a compound and a car in the area, according to Dawn and The Associated Press.

At this time, no senior Taliban or al Qaeda fighters have been reported killed in the attack.

The target of the strike is also not known, but the Datta Khel area is known to host a plethora of al Qaeda and allied jihadist and Taliban groups.

The Datta Khel area is administered by the Taliban commander for North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadar. He provides shelter to top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.

Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, or al Qaeda’s Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel.

Time to turn off the spigot of American taxpayer dollars.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — A senior member of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood said there is virtually no peace agreement with the Zionist regime following the recent developments in the country, adding that any treaty not approved by the Egyptian nation must be abrogated.

Kamal Halbavi was speaking to Qudsna when asked about the future of several treaties signed by the former Egyptian regime with the Zionist regime.

The Egyptian nation considers as null and void any agreement between the toppled regime and the Zionist regime which has no respect for justice and rights of the Egyptian people.

He said the world was witnessing massive changes. “People worldwide want to see unjust laws scraped. It is no surprise for the Egyptians to want the same,” he said.

Halbavi then touched on the dismantling of Berlin wall, adding that following the dismantling, many previously signed treaties were abrogated.

Fleebagger FAIL.

(Rasmussen) — Half of America’s voters favor public sector unions for government workers, but they strongly oppose the tactic by Wisconsin state senators to flee their state to prevent a vote that would limit the rights of such unions.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that only 25% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of this tactic, while 67% disapprove. State legislators in Indiana have used the same approach to avoid a vote in their state.

Sizable majorities of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party reject such a strategy. Democrats are fairly evenly divided, with 48% approving and 44% disapproving.

Until the Democratic senators return, there will not be quorum allowing a vote on Republican Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to have public employees pay more for their health and pension benefits and to limit their collective bargaining rights. The Republican majorities in both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature are expected to pass the governor’s proposal which has been the subject of major protests in the state for several days now.

Obama remains oblivious.

(Rasmussen) — President Obama’s job approval ratings have taken a dive this week in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, and the number of voters who give him favorable ratings for leadership has fallen to its lowest level since he took office in January 2009.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 37% of Likely U.S. Voters now say the president is doing a good or excellent job as a leader. Forty percent (40%) rate his performance as poor.

Last month, right after the president’s State of the Union speech, 47% of voters viewed his leadership positively. At that time, the number who gave Obama poor marks (33%) fell to its lowest level since September 2009.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) now view the president’s leadership style as too confrontational, while slightly more (29%) say it’s too cooperative. Thirty-one percent (31%) think his leadership is just about right. Another 12% are undecided.

Since late January 2009, the number of voters who say the president is too confrontational has ranged from a low of 13% to a high of 32%. At the same time, the number who says he’s too cooperative has run from 17% to 38%. . . .

Rest here »

The religious cleansing of Christians from the Middle East continues and so does the deafening silence from the US government.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) — Iraq’s Christian community has been attacked again. A group of armed men stormed the home of a Christian man in Baghdad’s central neighbourhood of Karrad, killing him. The victim’s name is Youssif Isho, a 70-year-old Chaldean. He was stabbed to death. Sources have warned AsiaNews that other attacks against Christians are possible in the capital. “The faithful continue to suffer,” a Christian leader said, “and people are scared, moving cautiously out of fear of more violence.”

According to information obtained by AsiaNews, Youssif Isho’s death was a targeted killing by extremist groups. The group burst into his home and stabbed 70-year-old man to death. He lived alone in a house in Karrad, central Baghdad. Nothing was stolen from the premises.

Iraqi Christians fear more violence tomorrow, Friday, when demonstrations are scheduled to take place in the country’s main cities….

A source, anonymous for security reasons, spoke to AsiaNews about “a volcano that has exploded and that has no end in sight.”

“People are scared,” the Christian leader said, “because extremist groups could infiltrate [demonstrations] and cause havoc”. Many fear more “looting, destruction and even targeted killings.”

The same “hallucination” pills he alluded to on Tuesday?

Benghazi, Libya (CNN) — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday blamed the violence in his country on young people, who he said are taking some sort of pills and being exploited by Osama bin Laden.

Speaking by phone on state TV as reports came in of pro-Gadhafi forces killing unarmed civilians in the town of Zawiya, Gadhafi said, “Our children have been manipulated by al Qaeda.”

“Those exploiting the youth have to be arrested,” he added.

Gadhafi also specifically addressed Zawiya, saying, “We shouldn’t leave” the town “without any control.”

Ten days into the protests that have lost him control of eastern Libya and led prominent members of his own government to defect and join demonstrations, Gadhafi showed no sign of even considering giving up the post he has held for 42 years.

Viva la Revolución!

Via Fox Nation:

Over at the Huffington Post, Van Jones has issued a call for the country to spread the “spirit of Madison” to all 50 states in a massive day of action scheduled for Saturday, February 26. “The truth is that we don’t live Bangladesh or Malawi. America is not a poor country,” Jones writes. “The public has just been hypnotized into believing that the richest and most creative nation on Earth has only two choices in this crisis: massive austerity (as championed by the Tea Party/Republicans) or SEMI-massive austerity (as meekly offered by too many DC Democrats). It is ridiculous.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd not invited.

(The Detroit News) — The White House will celebrate Black History Month with a Feb. 24 concert celebrating Detroit’s best-known musical import. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will host “The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House,” a tribute to the record company Berry Gordy Jr. founded here at the dawn of the 1960s.

The concert will be filmed for broadcast at 8 p.m. March 1 on PBS stations.

Announced performers include just one from Motown’s classic era: Smokey Robinson. The rest of the roster are contemporary artists Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Seal and Jordin Sparks. Detroiter Greg Phillinganes will serve as music director.

Earlier in the day Feb. 24, Michelle Obama will host a workshop on Motown at the White House for more than 100 students from Michigan, four other states and the District of Columbia. Titled “The Sound of Young America: The History of Motown,” it will be moderated by Grammy Museum executive director Bob Santelli and include many of the concert’s performers discussing how Motown came about in Detroit and its legacy during the last 50 years. The discussion will stream live on www.whitehouse.gov, www.pbs.org/whitehouse, www.grammymuseum. org and www.blackpublicmedia.org.

HT: Drudge

The eruption starts at 7:32 in this video:

Note to the leftist goons: Raping another man makes you the “faggot.”

Via Michelle Malkin:

At AFSCME’s “solidarity” rally in Providence, Rhode Island on Tuesday, a cameraman was accosted by a fuming pro-union protester. The cameraman had his back to the goon, who appears to accost him unprovoked. The goon screams:

“I’ll f**k you in the ass, you faggot!”

His shouting escalates and other union supporters try to intervene as he threatened the cameraman, but he continues to foam at the mouth.

The “solidarity” mob finally starts chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, union-busting’s got to go” to drown out the goon’s snit fit. He yells that he will “follow you out of here.”

This is the real deal, no FBI sting for the left to claim entrapment.

WASHINGTON — Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late yesterday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets.

The arrest and the criminal complaint, which was unsealed in the Northern District of Texas, were announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; James T. Jacks, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas; and Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Field Division.

Aldawsari is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Lubbock at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning. Aldawsari, who was lawfully admitted into the United States in 2008 on a student visa and is enrolled at South Plains College near Lubbock, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Aldawsari has been researching online how to construct an IED using several chemicals as ingredients. He has also acquired or taken a substantial step toward acquiring most of the ingredients and equipment necessary to construct an IED and he has conducted online research of several potential U.S. targets, the affidavit alleges. In addition, he has allegedly described his desire for violent jihad and martyrdom in blog postings and a personal journal.

“As alleged in the complaint, Aldawsari purchased ingredients to construct an explosive device and was actively researching potential targets in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of many agents, analysts and prosecutors, this plot was thwarted before it could advance further,” said Assistant Attorney General Kris. “This case serves as another reminder of the need for continued vigilance both at home and abroad.”

The affidavit alleges that on Feb. 1, 2011, a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious attempted purchase of concentrated phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari. According to the affidavit, phenol is a toxic chemical with legitimate uses, but can also be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, also known as T.N.P., or picric acid. The affidavit alleges that other ingredients typically used with phenol to make picric acid, or T.N.P., are concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.

Aldawsari allegedly attempted to have the phenol order shipped to a freight company so it could be held for him there, but the freight company returned the order to the supplier and called the police. Later, Aldawsari falsely told the supplier he was associated with a university and wanted the phenol for “off-campus, personal research.” Frustrated by questions being asked over his phenol order, Aldawsari cancelled his order and later e-mailed himself instructions for producing phenol. The affidavit alleges that in December 2010, he successfully purchased concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids.

In another e-mail titled “NICE TARGETS 01,” Aldawsari allegedly sent himself the names of 12 reservoir dams in Colorado and California. In another e-mail to himself, titled “NICE TARGETS,” he listed two categories of targets: hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants. On Feb. 6, 2011, the affidavit alleges, Aldawsari sent himself an e-mail titled “Tyrant’s House,” in which he listed the Dallas address for former President George W. Bush. The affidavit also alleges that Aldawsari conducted research that could indicate his consideration of the use of infant dolls to conceal explosives and possible targeting of a nightclub with an explosive concealed in a backpack.

The affidavit also alleges that Aldawsari created a blog in which he posted extremist messages. In one posting, he expressed dissatisfaction with current conditions of Muslims and vowed jihad and martyrdom. “You who created mankind. . . . grant me martyrdom for Your sake and make jihad easy for me only in Your path,” he wrote.

HT: David D.

Amazingly, Tingles also claims he “rarely” raises the race issue which begs the obvious question, is he smoking crack before going on air?

(Daily Caller) — On Thursday night’s “Hardball” on MSNBC, despite charges of misogyny toward conservative women and very bizarre on-air behavior toward female professional colleagues, host Chris Matthews derided conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh and Fox News host Glenn Beck, charging them with “ethnic disdain” toward the first family. The source of the charge: Limbaugh’s critical remarks about first lady Michelle Obama’s dietary habits in the wake of her campaign to combat childhood obesity.

“I think it’s race, too again,” Matthews said. “I rarely raise this flag, but I think there’s this disdain from people like Limbaugh for this first family as a family. There’s a disdain towards them. He wouldn’t talk about another first family who were white like this. He has a disdain which has come on again and again. [Glenn] Beck has it, too. It’s ethnic disdain and they feel happy doing this, because they know their followers out there like it. They’re in the business of keeping a radio listenership. They know it doesn’t offend their type ditto heads, or they wouldn’t be saying it.”

Rest here »

Hats off to Indiana. Sadly, Obama will sick the Department of Justice on them the second their House of Representatives passes the law.

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) — The Indiana senate passed a sweeping immigration bill that echoes Arizona’s tougher measures on illegal immigrants and despite opposition from some of the largest employers and business groups in the state.

The measure, passed on Tuesday night by a vote of 31-18, would allow state and local police to ask a person stopped for infractions like traffic violations for proof of legal residency if the officer has a “reasonable suspicion” they may be in the country illegally.

Another provision would call for, with some exceptions, the use of English only in public meetings, on Web sites and in documents.

The bill still needs to be adopted by state’s House of Representatives, where opponents say they will now turn.

Get ready to bend over at the gas pumps.

LONDON (Reuters) — Oil surged more than 7.5 percent to its highest since August 2008 on Thursday on concern that uprisings in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude oil for April spiked up $8.54 a barrel to a peak of $119.79 before easing to around $114.40 by 9:50 a.m. EST. U.S. crude futures for April rose as high as $103.41, the highest September 2009. They were up $1.70 at $99.80 at 8:50 a.m. EST.

Unrest in the world’s 12th-biggest exporter has cut at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Libya’s 1.6 million bpd output, according to Reuters calculations.

ENI Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said Libyan output had fallen much more dramatically, estimating it was putting 1.2 million barrels per day less into the market.

Naturally, it’s not like they’re going to support Gaddafi.

(CNN) — Al Qaeda’s North African wing has said “it will do whatever we can to help” the uprising in Libya, according to a statement the militant group posted on jihadist websites

The statement by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was posted Thursday, said SITE, a terrorist-tracking organization based outside Washington.

In the statement, the group said Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s decision to hire mercenaries and use planes to fire on protesters invalidates claims that the group is killing innocent civilians.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb started as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat with aspirations to overthrow the Algerian government.

Around 2004, it joined forces with al Qaeda and extended its reach across North and West Africa.

To stop the militant group’s growing influence in Libya, the country has in the past denounced al Qaeda and formed an alliance with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which once was aligned with al Qaeda before it formally ended a nearly two-decades armed struggle against Gadhafi’s regime.